Young Tigers thrive in NAB cup despite defeats Matt Windley
Herald Sun
February 14, 2011 THE message coming from Richmond after two NAB Cup defeats was positive, even if the results were not.
The largely inexperienced Tigers gave their all, but were overwhelmed by Carlton (18 points) and Collingwood (43 points) at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Richmond will now have next weekend off before fielding full-strength sides in three NAB Regional Challenge matches.
The Tiger faithful had their first look at new draftees such as Reece Conca, Tom Derickx and Jake Batchelor on Saturday night.
Conca, the club's top pick in last year's draft, said he and the team would be better off for the experience.
"The coach said to just forget about the scoreboard," Conca said at the Richmond family day in Craigieburn.
"We just had expectations to enjoy ourselves, stick to the game plan and just focus on that.
"We came up against two quality sides who were playing stronger sides than what we did. We went in with a younger, inexperienced side.
"We came out all guns blazing and sort of tailed off a bit."
A knock to Ben Nason's back against Carlton was the Tigers' only injury concern.
"It was a fantastic experience for all of our young kids, particularly last year's draftees," Richmond football manager Ross Monaghan said.
"For them to get an opportunity first up against quality opposition, obviously on a first-class ground, those sort of match conditions you can't simulate at training, it was priceless for us.
"We were happy to have that experience."
Coach Damien Hardwick said his side's pre-season preparations would ramp up from now on.
"Our number one team will step out in NAB's two, three and four (challenge matches), which is exciting for us," Hardwick said.
"We wanted to get three games of continuous improvement into our guys.
"We weren't prepared to bend our philosophy of whatever is best for Round 1 going forward, so those guys were never in a state to play NAB one.
"I think from here on in you'll see a really, really dedicated Richmond side that will no doubt get some wins on the board in the remainder of the regional cup."
The Tigers face the Blues again in Round 1 of the home-and-away season, but Conca said he did not think footage from Saturday night's clash would feature too heavily in the build-up to the season proper.
"Because we played such a young side, you've got to expect that a lot of those guys won't be playing in Round 1," Conca said.
"So last night was more just about seeing how the game plan went and having a lot of first-year players get used to the experience.
"They will take a bit out of it, but there will be a few things they won't focus on too much, I would say."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/young-tigers-thrive-in-nab-cup-despite-defeats/story-e6frf9jf-1226005386251
